Inclusion should always be seen as a journey where no school arrives (Curriculum Group Dorchester, 2002). It involves the constant scrutiny and
auditing of policies, procedures and practices, to ensure that no groups are
underachieving, being marginalised or excluded. Inclusion is more about a state
of mind than any specific educational arrangements. The process of learning is
considered important as well as the content of what the student learns.
An inclusive special school should be concerned with excellence of
educational opportunity in the true educational sense (Cole, 2000) and no longer focus primarily on their previous goals of
functional competency and rehabilitation. Inclusive schools need subject expert
teachers who know the diversity of learning difference of students.
"Effective schools are educationally inclusive schools. This shows,
not only in their performance, but also in their ethos and their willingness to
offer new opportunities to pupils who may have experienced previous
difficulties. An educationally inclusive school is one in which the teaching
and learning, achievements, attitudes and well-being of every young person
matter.”
The teacher is the educational change agent (Hargreaves, 2003). At the heart of educational opportunity is the facilitating role
of the teacher. Their beliefs and consequent practices are the crucial elements
that foster student development. At a time of educational change and when such
major paradigm shifts in the nature of education are being promoted what
matters most are the teacher’s beliefs in what should be taught and then how
they should practice their art of teaching (Daniels, 2000). If they are to practice inclusion
principles and deliver an inclusive curriculum then every teacher must play
their part, every teacher matters.
The drive for inclusion has been with us for over twenty years yet
there is evidence that the support for the belief in the principles remains as
rhetoric when it comes to practice. Where there are teachers in special schools
that are not aware of the central curriculum and the relevance of the key
learning areas then there is a lack of inclusion. Where there are teachers in
all schools who keep a direct control of their classroom without encouraging
student centred learning, then there are students who are not included in their
learning. If the paradigms of teaching are to change, then the teachers need to
be informed of how to change their practices. If this is not done then the
excellent principles become empty rhetoric. Without the teacher’s clarity of
values there can be no clear paradigms of curriculum delivery. Without the
informed teacher there can be no inclusive education. The teacher really does
matter.
The teacher in the classroom is like an actor on a stage who must
have the will to inspire excitement about learning and the ability to encourage
student curiosity and challenge the student’s ability to explore and make sense
of the world about them. The greater the disability of the student the greater
the challenge for the teacher, the more barriers to learning the student presents
the more flexible a facilitator the teacher has to be. At this point it is the
personality of the teacher which creates the sense of fun and laughter that is
germane to educational motivation. Without the teacher’s sense of fun there can
be no excitement or student curiosity. The teacher matters not only as a
professional but also as a person.
A good teacher not only has strong beliefs but is also well
disciplined in their art of professional practice. A good teacher has to have a
holistic grasp of their responsibilities.
The teacher of the twenty first century is not just a person who teaches
students in the classroom. A twenty first century teacher is an educator, a
person who is an expert in curriculum management, a master of classroom
management, a skilled practitioner in assessment and evaluation (Browder, 2001) and above all someone who understands the educational
implications of the abilities and
disabilities of their students (Lewis, 2003) and encourages student centred learning, . The teacher matters
because their ability to operate within this complex educational context
requires the highest level of professionalism. Without the teacher’s highest
standard of professionalism there can be no quality of education development.
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